After surviving their second-round contest against the No. 16-seeded UNC-Asheville Bulldogs, the East Region's top-seeded Syracuse Orange will face No. 8 Kansas St. Wildcats Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS in a third-round, NCAA Tournament matchup in Pittsburgh, Pa. The winner advance to the Sweet 16 to play either No. 5 Vanderbilt Commodores or No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers.
On Thursday, the Orange just avoided becoming the first No. 1 seed in the history of the 64-team field to lose to a No. 16 team, as they edged the Bulldogs, 72-65. Junior forward James Southerland netted 13 of his 15 points in the second half to help Syracuse improve to 32-2 on the season.
Meanwhile, Kansas State battled the Southern Miss. Golden Eagles and advanced to the next round with a 70-64 victory. Rodney McGruder netted a game-best 30 points in the gritty effort that featured the Wildcats shooting over 50-percent from the field, but just 2-for-12 from behind the 3-point arc.
For a breakdown of Syracuse vs. Kansas State, check back to this SB Nation New York StoryStream.
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